Goals:

Why Self-employment?

Self-employment or micro-business ownership, has the potential to reduce poverty and to improve the standard of living for our nation’s largest minority group – people with disabilities. While the unemployment rate for people with disabilities remains above 70%, self-employment is booming. Twenty million Americans work in home based businesses. The self-employment rate is growing at a rate of 20% annually.

Low expectations and stereotypes regarding the self-employment potential of people with disabilities has limited the use of this option. Additional barriers are the fear of benefits loss, lack of technical assistance, and limited access to capital. Demonstration projects in other states have shown that when resources and training were directed toward these barriers, micro-business success rates followed. When the business matches the owner's preferences, interests, and talents, the result has been sustained and personally rewarding employment.

If you have business ideas, plans, or suggestions that we can use to help motivated individuals move into self-employment and financial independence, we would love to hear from you.

For more information contact:

Ron Broome rbroome@anch.net in Anchorage 272-8270 or Toll Free: 1-800-243-2199 (msg)

What We Mean By Self-Employment: "I Want To Be My Own Boss" This booklet requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader and is approximately 195K in size.

Self-employment | Benefit Planning Assistance and Outreach | Micro Enterprise Development | One Stop Self-employment Training | Resources | Microenterprise Resource Guide |